Chapter 11 Online Reputation Management Learning Objectives Understand

Chapter 11 Online Reputation Management Learning Objectives § § § Understand that listening to the buzz online is a crucial step in the online reputation management process Understand how to analyze what is being said online Learn how to engage in and lead conversation Learn why it is important to engage in and lead conversation Understand the importance of constantly evolving your strategy Learn how brands can best recover from an online threat

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation § § Customers do not use channels designated by a company to talk about that organization The Internet makes it easy for a company to use the channels that customers have selected

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation § Online Reputation Management (ORM) allows the company to track: § Mentions of itself § Its staff § Its products § Its industry § Its competitors

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation § § In terms of the company, one can track the following: § Brand name § URL § Key products § Key personnel (names, job titles, etc. ) In terms of the industry, one can track the following: § Conferences § Patents § News

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation § In terms of competitors, one can track the following: § Brand names § Product launches § Web site updates § Job vacancies

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation When monitoring, the following need to be tracked: § Blogs § Twitter § News § Forums § Comment boards § Photos

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation § § § Videos Job listings Events Patents Web site changes

The Second Step: Measure What’s Being Said by Whom § § Take stock of the messages being sent by your own company, which includes: § Web sites and domains owned by your company § Blogs maintained by employees § Blogs maintained by former employees Audit — Will give an idea of the content that is available to the public and what that content is saying

The Second Step: Measure What’s Being Said by Whom § Not all mentions are equal online § They vary in terms of positivity or negativity and influence § All mentions do not require action from company § Some mentions require drastic measures from company § All mentions are an indication of consumer sentiment

The Second Step: Measure What’s Being Said by Whom § § § Whether a post is positive, negative, or indifferent can be quickly assessed by reading it; influence is a little harder to establish § Indicators (traffic, links, and subscriber numbers) can assist in assessing the influence of a blog Influence assists in establishing the credibility of the author Factors that indicate credibility § Size of the blog’s audience § Frequency of posts § Age of the blog

The Third Step: Manage—Engaging In and Leading the Conversation § § § Engaging — The best way to show that you are listening Positive comments — Should be acknowledged by the company Neutral comments — Company is in danger of being forgotten Negative comments — Should be seen as an opportunity for growth by the company and dealt with Responding — Recognizing that consumers dictate the channels of communication and that a company needs to go to the consumer, not the other way around

The Fourth Step: Maximize — Evolve Your Strategy § § ORM provides an insight that can be applied to other elements of the business to maximize on results In marketing, ORM provides key insights into how particular tactics are performing and how it impacts the overall marketing strategy These outputs are shared with other departments The insights are applied to the overall business strategy

Ten Rules to Recover from an Online Brand Attack § § § Humility Listen Act immediately If what they’re saying is false…. If what they’re saying is true….

Ten Rules to Recover from an Online Brand Attack § § § Keep the negative pages out of the search engines Maintain communication Engage in the conversation Care Be prepared